Economic reforms that Ukrainian government is engaged in are impoverishing Ukrainians more and more

New Ukrainian government of “European integration” has been functioning for a year already. Nevertheless living conditions in Ukraine did not come any closer to the European ones over the period. Moreover, they worsened catastrophically. One can get an impression that having headed for Europe the government forgot to get equipped with a compass, thus, the entire country had confidently marched in another direction – in the direction of Africa. Experts state: hostilities in the East of the country, economic crisis, unprecedented inflation led to the transference of Ukrainians from the category of poor people to the category of beggars.

– In Bulgaria the average salary is at the level of about 330 Euro – these are the lowest wages in the EU countries, – quotes statistics President of the Ukrainian Analytical Center Oleksandr Okhrimenko.

– In Moldova, which is also heading for the EU, average wages today amount to about 180 Euro, whereas in Ukraine, taking into account the present-day rate of 30 UAH per one USD, the wages amount to about 110 USD, that is, less than 100 Euro. Thus, the expert states, at present the average salary in Ukraine is at the level close to that of Senegal. Hence the talk of our country being on its way to Europe sounds a bit delusional. Probably, the only index close to the average European is unemployment index, which in the Euro zone has reached the average of 11-12%. Be reminded that in Ukraine as early as a year ago the share of the unemployed was about 7.5%. According to the state budget for 2015, the minimal wages in Ukraine today amount to 1218 UAH. That is, taking into account the present-day rate, it equals about 40 UAH per month and 1.35 USD per day. Meanwhile, in accordance with the UN criteria population living on less than 2 USD per day is considered poor, and 1.25 USD per day is considered the edge of extreme poverty. So, welcome to the country of beggars! And the saddest thing, said Okhrimenko, is the fact that today’s situation is not the end of the crisis and not even its middle –it is the very beginning of the crisis. Economists agree with him and say that we are living “like in a fairy tale” now: the further the spookier. Ukrainians already find it hard to make both ends meet, and the debts for utility services have reached 15 bln UAH by January1, 2015. Experts got tired or repeating that the growth of prices in utility sector will not save the situation, as the impoverished Ukrainians will not be able to pay the debts, but the government is deaf to the voice of reason. Head of the National Bank Valeriya Gontareva at last told the public on February18 about the growth of prices for utility services agreed upon by Ukraine and the IMF. As it was expected, this announcement was no cause for enthusiasm.

– Current rise of prices according to our and IMF joint project will be very sharp – by 280% for gas prices and about 66% for the price of heat, – Gontareva said, having added that with such growth the country’s inflation will reach 25% by the next year. Nevertheless economist Andrey Martynyuk is even more pessimistic, saying that with such growth the country will easily conquer the level of 50%. Oleksandr Okhrimenko talks about the repetition of hyperinflation of 1990s, when devaluation reached 1000%.